[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Rabbit Hole Episode 7, “Gilgamesh.”]
Is Miles (Jason Butler Harner) really dead? Can John (Kiefer Sutherland) trust his father, Ben (Charles Dance)? The penultimate episode of Rabbit Hole Season 1 (kind of) answers both of those questions.
Despite receiving messages the same way he and Miles secretly communicated, John is not talking to his best friend. Rather, Crowley was trying to turn John against Ben. It almost worked, too; we saw the different possibilities he runs through for various scenarios play out, with one even including him killing his father! Miles is dead because he refused to kill John. And now, they have to stop Crowley before he gains too much power and can manipulate anyone, and they can’t.
Dance takes us inside the penultimate episode and teases the finale.
This episode, more than any other, plays with how much we should trust Ben and how much he might have been hiding from John and doing that he and the audience haven’t seen. How much did you know about his arc for the season from the beginning? All of it? Some of it? Did you question him at times?
Charles Dance: From the beginning, I knew some of it. [Laughs] Glenn [Ficarra] and John [Requa] are unbelievably talented, wonderful people, but they kept us in the dark a fair amount of time, which means that as an actor, you’ve got to be kind of open to all kinds of options. I’ve got an idea, I think, “OK, this is what this character is going to be doing next, or maybe he’s going to be doing this,” and you don’t really know until pretty close to starting to shoot that particular episode. So it’s a very interesting way to work.
Then we get those great scenes with John playing out the possibilities in his head, with Ben at the center of them. And that one where John kills his father. Talk about filming that sequence.
Kiefer and I just tried to be as believable as possible. Right from the outset, I had to consider Kiefer in terms of a father-son relationship, not just a fellow actor playing a character. When there’s that filial relationship to consider… The fear that you’re going to be shot is one thing. The fear that you’re going to be shot by your son, that’s kind of magnified. So we just tried to make each version of those different versions of that particular moment, in Kiefer’s mind, as real as possible so that as we’re progressing through those different variations, the audience is not quite sure which is real and which is not. So they’re inside Weir’s head. Does that make sense, Meredith?
It does. But they seem to be on kind of solid ground, at least the most solid ground that we’ve seen them by the end of the episode because they have a clock ticking. Is John and Ben’s relationship the best it can be at that point?
I would think so, yeah.
Episode 7 is all about how much John should and can trust Ben, but how much does Ben trust John?
I trust his ability. I’m doubtful about his state of mind.
Yeah, because if he doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not, it’s hard to predict how he’s going to react to something.
Yeah, and obviously, there’s a limit to how much I know him. I know of him. I think in my mind, although nobody says this in the script, I’ve been kind of like a guardian angel living in a brownstone just down the road from him. I’ve known where he is. He hasn’t known where I am. He, in fact, hadn’t known that I was alive. So as far as my observation of him goes, I have a little knowledge of my son, having spent 30 years away from him. There’s a great deal of his character and personality that I’m having to catch up on during the course of this drama that we’re involved in.
What about the rest of their team, Hailey (Meta Golding) and Homm (Rob Yang)? How much does he trust them? Because we’ve already seen Ben suspicious of Hailey.
Oh, I don’t trust Hailey, but Homm amuses me and Rob amuses me. I have to say, I think we’re a great team. I’m inordinately fond of Meta, but her character, I can’t allow myself to trust her. I don’t know what’s going on between her and my son really ever. I’ve got a fair idea. But I don’t know completely, and I don’t know very much about her backstory.
There’s almost a little comedy in the duo of Ben and Homm, which I like.
I love it. I love playing that. And he’s terrific to work with. Rob’s a very clever guy.
At the end of this episode, Ben stresses just how important it is to stop Crowley. How far is Ben willing to go to stop him? Does he have a line he won’t cross or something he won’t risk losing, like his son?
Losing his son, I think that’s a line he would not cross.
That’s the only line?
He’s sacrificed his family and his happiness for the last 30 years, and I think he would be prepared to do it again if it came to it.
How would you describe Ben and Crowley’s dynamic?
Even as children, their relationship was more competitive colleagues than affectionate childhood friends.
Do you think Ben has been as truthful as he feels he can be with everyone up to this point?
Yes.
Heading into the finale, what is the most important thing we should be keeping in mind about Ben?
That he has integrity.
What can you tease about the season finale?
Don’t trust it. Don’t trust the finale. Don’t accept any conclusion that’s offered [to] you.
Is your most intriguing scene in the finale with John or someone else?
Someone else.
Is it Crowley?
I’m not telling you.
What else should fans be keeping in mind going into the finale?
To concentrate. All the information you need is there, but you really have to concentrate.
Rabbit Hole, Sundays, Paramount+